The types, services and benefits of cloud computing

Cloud computing refers to the outsourcing of IT services and infrastructure, making them accessible remotely via the internet. Utilizing cloud computing models can boost productivity and provide organisations with a competitive edge.

There are four different categories of cloud models

These are:

• Public - These are used by a range of end-users ranging from large organisation to an individual. They can be accessed through a digital device with an internet connection. To be able to access and use a public cloud, users must pay a subscription or on a pay-to-use basis

 

• Private - These are used by a specific organisation and can be hosted on site premises or remotely through virtualisation. Access to a private cloud is restricted by a firewall which is managed by the organisation. A private cloud requires that the organisation installs and maintains infrastructure including hardware, software and networking components.

• Community - A community cloud is one that is designed for and used by a group of organisations working in a particular industry, for example the financial sector. By using a community cloud the financial sector can transfer money between banks, process credit and debit card payments and liaise with international banks. An example of the this would be the SWIFT banking system

• Hybrid - The hybrid model is the 'best of both worlds' and incorporates the best aspects of private and public clouds. For example, and organization can utilize some services on the public cloud but has a private cloud for sensitive services or data

 

Delivery models of cloud computing

There six commonly used cloud delivery models,

These are:

• Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
• Platform as a Service (PaaS)
• Function as a Service (FaaS)
• Software as a Service (SaaS)
• Data as a Service (DaaS)
• Everything as a Service (EaaS)

IaaS

IaaS provides organisations with the infastructure. The infrastrucuture provided by the IaaS provider can include a network, servers, storage areas and an operating system (OS). This means that the organisation can reduce the costs and physical presence of hardware. One of the benefits of using an IaaS is that organisations only pay for what they use and so can increase, or decrease, the infrastructure they use. This is called scalability and means that the organisation can be flexible as the organisation's requirements change. Examples of IaaS include AWS and Microsoft Azure.

PaaS

PaaS includes all the features of IaaS and builds on these to include software including development tools. But it is still possible for the organisation to use their own application software. PaaS is commonly used during the development and testing of a (usually) web-based software application. The PaaS provider provides the platform, hardware and software to develop the software application on, and the organisation remains responsible for developing and deploying the application. As with the IaaS model, PaaS is scalable. Examples of PaaS include Google App Engine and Microsoft Azure.

FaaS

FaaS offers an organisation the facilities to create high-quality functions that people are unable to write for themselves. These are the converted into a service that people can use. FaaS places a function onto a cloud instance which means that it  can be accessed  by a range of people and computers and it does not rely on the user's system and hardware in order to work as intended.

Functions are accessed through one or more triggers that will have been defined when the function was created. The network infrastructure is managed is managed by the vendor and the functions are managed by the client.

SaaS

SaaS is a very popular delivery model with organisations and, increasingly, individuals. SaaS provides the software applications and services, for example a cloud storage area, that the end-users can access. As the software provided by SaaS is not location dependent, software can be accessed from a range of devices in different locations as long as an internet connection is available. The software is accessed through a subscription service; this may be a fixed fee with limitations, such as the number of devices that can access the software, or on a pay-to-use basis. Examples of SaaS include Microsoft 365 and Google Docs.

Each delivery model differs in the way in which responsibility and ownership of resources are distributed between the subscriber and service provider.

XaaS

XaaS is known as 'Everything as a Service' but is often referred to as 'Anything as a Service'. It relates to products and tools that are purchased 'as a; service'. It therefore can include IaaS, SaaS, DaaS and PaaS. It is a method used to create a resilient digital environment by delivering any service to the digital devices. The purchaser identifies their needs and then and then purchases the relevant service. This could be for software, hardware, servers, data etc.

Benefits of cloud computing

Cloud Portability

Cloud computing facilitates the quick and easy movement of services. There are three areas of  portability to consider:

• Data portability - The reuse of data components across different applications
• Application portability - The reuse of application components across cloud PaaS services and traditional computing platforms
• Platform portability - There are two forms of platform portability:
• Reuse of bundles containing applications and data with supporting platforms (machine image portability)
• Reuse of platform components across cloud IaaS services and non-cloud infrastructure (platform sources portability)

Cloud Sourcing

This is where organisations (known as the subscribers) will outsource business processes to a third party (referred to as a service provider). Subscribers will pay the service providers for services such as IaaS, PaaS, SaaS and DaaS. Dropbox is a well-known cloud source used by individuals for the storage and sharing of data and files.

Elastic Cloud

This where an organisation can increase or decrease the services that it receives from the cloud providers as and when the business's needs dictate that a change is required. This could be additional storage, additional software